I work harder than others says London's most expensive MP

Last updated at 11:20 27 October 2006

London's most expensive MP launched a searing attack on his lowspending colleagues today. Hendon MP Andrew Dismore asked what they were doing to justify their salary - saying they were clearly not working as hard as him.

"The fact is I'm a very active MP", he said after figures showed him claiming £154,539 in expenses and allowances. "What on earth are some of the others doing?"

The most eye-popping bill was £37,000 for stationery - including £25,146 on stamps for letters to constituents. That is 83,820 letters in one year: 230 a day. With Parliament sitting on 137 days, it works out at 612 per sitting day.

Mr Dismore is tops the league table of London MPs' expenses and allowances last year.

Asked how anybody could write so many official letters, he said: "Easily - you should be asking other people whey they are doing so few for their wages. If you go out in the constituency like I do every day, you come across hundreds of people who want information and I always respond."

In reality, that means he sends out a word rocessed letter to residents every six months or so, giving his views with facts and figures. He claimed: "I get little old ladies sending me books of stamps so I can keep up the service. I could show you a sheaf of letters from people thanking me."

Ilford North MP Lee Scott, who spent just £600 on postage, said: "I find it difficult to believe Andrew Dismore could possibly have spent that amount of money." The Conservative MP said he had dealt with 1,500 constituents since being elected last year. "I pay the postage myself unless it is a constituency case", he said.

The smallest claim for postage was put in by Home Office Minister Tony McNulty, MP for Harrow East - a paltry £590.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "The postmen in Hendon deserve a Christmas bonus. Andrew Dismore must be the most prolific letterwriter in Britain. Unless he's trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records, it's difficult to know what he's going to achieve.

"MPs should be as careful with their office budgets as with their family budgets. Unless letters are relevant and personal, they shouldn't be sent at our expense."

Second in the expenses league was Andrew Rosindell, Tory MP for Romford, who claimed £142,628. He spent £7,698 on travel, more than any London colleague.

Brent North's Barry Gardiner (Labour) charged £21,620 for keeping a flat in Pimlico even though it is only half an hour from his constituency on the Tube. The most economical MP was Labour's Bridget Prentice, representing Lewisham East.

George Galloway's postage claim was zero. A spokesman for Bethnal Green and Bow's Respect MP said he had used thousands of prepaid envelopes left over by MPs who lost their seats or retired.

He added: "You don't measure an MP by the number of letters he sends out. His Friday surgery is inundated."